Help needed: Paint going sticky on resin kit.

viper1 · Post by **viper1** » Fri Dec 26, 2008 4:47 pm

Im currently working on a resin 1/6 wonder woman figure and ive run into a bit of a problem.
I undercoated the figure with games workshop chaos black spray paint and on a couple of areas the paint seems to have gone tacky. I had no problems when undercoating the base it just seems to be happening on the lower halves of the legs around the seam where im assuming the two halves of the figure were stuck together.
I did clean the figure well before construction so i don't think thats the problem. The only thing i noticed before painting was a greenish tint to the resin in a couple of areas could that have anything to do with it?

I don't have much experience with resin kits so any help would be apreciated

Cheers

kenlilly106 · Post by **kenlilly106** » Fri Dec 26, 2008 7:35 pm

Did you glue the 2 halves together? If so what adhesive did you use?

What did you clean the figure with?

Does the paint come up or does it feel like it never dried all the way?

Ken

viper1 · Post by **viper1** » Fri Dec 26, 2008 7:56 pm

Hi Ken

No i didnt glue the two halves together it came as one piece so i dont know what adhesive was used.

I just cleaned the model with washing up liquid in warm water. I did the whole kit this way and have not had any problems with any other areas on the figure or the base.

The paint basicaly just feels like it never dried properly and has that tacky sort of feel to it. I sanded down the original undercoat and re sprayed, originaly it seemed much better, however i left working on the kit for a few weeks and when i went back to start working on it again it seemed just as bad.

kenlilly106 · Post by **kenlilly106** » Fri Dec 26, 2008 8:18 pm

Either there's some mold release still stuck in this area, or the resin did not properly cure in this spot.

I'd strip all the paint off the figure and clean the affected area thoroughly with cellulose thinner (I've never had cellulose thinner affect resin, test first on an inconspicuous spot to make sure), then wait a few days before working on the and examine the spot. If you see little oily spots or drops in the area then the resin is the problem.

I had a kit that oozed the oily stuff for a while, multiple cleanings in: Simple Green, Orange Blast, Comet, even cellulose thinner removed the stuff for a few days, then it came back. I ended up waiting a year, cleaning the kit thoroughly with cellulose thinner, then hosing on a few coats of lacquer primer to seal it in. Seemed to work ok, the paint is still fine after a couple of years. I've read that you can bake the figure in a warm oven for a few hours to accelerate the oozing/cure, but I haven't tried it.

If the spot looks small enough, you may be able to route it out with a moto-tool and fill in the gouge.

Ken

viper1 · Post by **viper1** » Fri Dec 26, 2008 9:00 pm

Thank's for the advice Ken, just a couple of questions

1)If i strip all the paint off the figure what do you recomend I use, Ive never stripped paint off resin before. (or any other kit come to think of it!)

2)After the area has been cleaned with celulose thinners do i need to clean off the thinner or just leave it to evaporate?

Ive been thinking about routing out the area with my dremmel then filling but i don't know if im brave enough to face that yet!

kenlilly106 · Post by **kenlilly106** » Fri Dec 26, 2008 10:08 pm

viper1 wrote:Thank's for the advice Ken, just a couple of questions

1)If i strip all the paint off the figure what do you recomend I use, Ive never stripped paint off resin before. (or any other kit come to think of it!)

I've used cellulose thinner before with no problems, I'd double check to make sure it won't affect the resin, in my experience it won't. Cellulose thinner also will remove about any surface contamination that may still be on the kit as well.

2)After the area has been cleaned with celulose thinners do i need to clean off the thinner or just leave it to evaporate?

Leave it evaporate, it will take just a few seconds to evaporate off. Wear chemical resistant gloves when doing this, standard latex gloves will not hold up to the thinner.

Ive been thinking about routing out the area with my dremmel then filling but i don't know if im brave enough to face that yet!

If the area is small I would go this route, there's no guarantee a good cleaning will remove the offending patch, removing it might be easier depending on what you'll have to re-sculpt when you put it back.

Ken

viper1 · Post by **viper1** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 3:38 pm

Thank's for all that help Ken,

Ive got a few days off work soon so i'll try out your suggestions

May need a bottle of whisky as well!

Lord Darth Beavis · Post by **Lord Darth Beavis** » Wed Dec 31, 2008 4:04 am

Viper1--

I second the wearing chem-resistant gloves. Lacquer (cellulose) thinner HURTS on bare skin. I was dumb enough to wipe down a car that was going to be painted, and did it bare-handed. I had peeling skin for almost a week.

You can also use spray-on oven cleaner (Easy Off), the purple Super Clean (used to be sold by Castrol, once upon a time), or even Simple Green. Being as you are in the UK, you might want to try checking the main site, as there is an article over there that lists international names for cleaners.

IIRC, someone posted about baking a resin kit on low, low heat for several hours (150*F, or less, IIRC) to cure out resin.